Hints and tips

Multiple choice question hints

You can skip multiple choice questions and come back to them by marking them for review. Remember, though, that you need to go back to them before the multiple choice part of the test is over. You can’t go back to them after the essay.

You may like to start by skim-reading or “speed-reading” the multiple-choice passages. But then go back and read them slowly and deliberately, and think about the exact meaning of every sentence. Note key words and phrases on your whiteboard if it helps you to concentrate.

Don’t read anything in, and don’t read anything out. You are not being asked to surmise. And the questioner, not you, is the best judge of relevance. So take everything in the passage at face-value and give it all even-handed attention.

Don’t ever rely on what you know from other sources in answering the multiple-choice questions. They are always questions about the passage itself. If it contains falsehoods, never mind – treat them as true for the purpose of the test.

Accept that one (and only one) of the answers to each question is correct. All the questions have been thoroughly checked. If there are matters of degree, the question is there to test how you handle matters of degree. If there are ambiguities, we are trying to find out how you cope with ambiguities. The solution is always there in the passage.

Remember that one of the hallmarks of a good multiple-choice question is the inclusion of one or more answer options that are wrong but almost right. Work hard to find them and eliminate them. Questions like this are not tricks. They are there to test whether your powers of discrimination are fine-grained (i.e. can distinguish propositions that are very close together) or coarse-grained (i.e. can distinguish propositions only when they are quite far apart). There are no trick questions on the LNAT.

There is a point for each right answer. But none are deducted for wrong answers. So don’t leave blanks. If you really can’t work out the answer, it’s better to eliminate the answers you know to be wrong and guess from the ones that are left.

Unlike some multiple-choice tests the LNAT does not put great emphasis on speed. We have designed it so that you have a reasonable amount of time to work through all the questions patiently. Pacing yourself correctly is one of the main things you can learn by taking our practice tests.

Essay tips

We don’t care whether you have any data about the topic. An argument based on assumptions can be just as good as an argument based on information. But you need to say what your assumptions are. (e.g. “I will assume that the demand for health care is growing, and will continue to grow, out of proportion to supply. That being so, what can be done to ensure that rich countries don’t monopolize it?”)

We are also not very interested in your opinions. We are interested in whether you can defend a position – which may or may not be your own personal position. Sometimes you may do better if you attempt to defend a position that you do not agree with personally. This may make your argument tighter.

Economy of expression is important. Our ideal LNAT essay is 500-600 words long. If you write much less than this your essay will be too short to be evaluated properly and you are unlikely to do well. But a very long essay will also put you at a disadvantage. This panel of text (from the top of the page to the word “disadvantage on the left) is already about 600 words long. It was typed in about five minutes using two-fingered typing. You have 40 minutes to type a similar amount. So you have lots of time to think, organise your thoughts, compose, and edit. You should try and remove repetition, surplus words and digressions. This kind of discipline will be rewarded.

Don’t sit on the fence. Don’t say that each side in an argument has a point unless you go on to say which point each side has. It is perfectly all right to say that that one side is right about point 1, whereas the other side is right about point 2. It is also all right to say that, on closer inspection, the two sides are at cross-purposes and don’t really disagree. It is fence-sitting only if you say that they do disagree, that there is only one point of disagreement, and yet that they both have a point on that point. That makes no sense.

Don’t try to impress with fancy words or elaborate style. Be straightforward in your writing and your argument.

Read some sample essay answers here.

Advice from past candidates

Preparation

  • ‘The more you practice the more you can understand what the questions are getting at’
  • ‘Doing the practice was useful to get a feel for how the test would go. This was helpful because I knew what to expect. I didn’t feel that I could have prepared any more for it though as you don’t know what the questions are going to be. Reading newspapers is helpful for the essay part as you’ll have a wider knowledge of the world and be able to answer a question more easily, it will also help your essay writing.’
  • ‘Read the sample paper on the internet site, seek advice from tutors at college or school and familiarise yourself with texts of a more advanced and complex nature.’
  • ‘Read newspapers and learn to formulate opinions and express them succinctly. Also practice at being able to read subtle differences in things, for the multiple choice.’
  • ‘Practice writing essays on subjects with which you are unfamiliar. This helps you to focus on the planning aspects of essay writing and the structure of the essay instead of getting too wrapped up in the subject detail.’
  • ‘Perhaps read some difficult articles on topics of personal interest to familiarise with possibly difficult words that you may not understand out of context.’
  • ‘Use the material and advice on the LNAT website. Familiarisation with typical content, format and timing was invaluable.’

During the test

  • ‘Carefully read the instructions at the beginning of the test. I panicked half-way through the multiple choice section of the test and believed I only had half the actual time available to do this section.’
  • ‘Stay calm and keep track of time during the test as it was very time pressured and it would be easy to mismanage your time and therefore not perform as well as you should.’
  • ‘Try to keep to time on the multiple choice section and don’t over analyse the questions too much. I ran out of time on the multiple choice section and had to guess the last few which didn’t help my score. Also don’t panic or get unnerved by the timer.’
  • ‘It sounds silly but thoroughly read the questions, everyone is likely to say it, but genuinely read every single word’